Home Is Where the Heart Is
by Rosette-Cullen
Summary: Jasper, a Texas born, down home man, is living in a world that he doesn't belong in. Can he get rid of the Mississippi Maniac and have his Southern Bell, or just end up one unhappy cowboy? Entry for the Love of Jasper Contest. M, AH


"**For the Love of Jasper" One-Shot Contest **

**Title: Home Is Where the Heart Is**

**Pen name: Rosette-Cullen**

**Existing work: N/A**

**Primary Players: Jasper & Bella**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight**

**To see other entries in the "For the Love of Jasper" contest, please visit the C2:  
www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/community/For_the_Love_of_Jasper_Contest/72564/**

* * *

She was prancin' around the room with her petite lil' legs moving a thousand miles a minute and her misshapen head of hair screechin' past me as I sat reclined in front of the television. We were goin' out or somethin', at the time that she had chirped the place in my face while forkin' down a vegan salad, I just shrugged it off and commenced watchin' some sorry chump get face planted into the ground by a wild bull.

Alice came up to my chair and stood in front of the TV with hands on her hips. I mentally sighed at the verbal assault that was about to come shittin' down from the heavens.

"Jasper Whitlock! If Ah told ya once, Ah told ya a thousand times, get your sorry ass outta that chair and get ready. This place takes a million years to get reservations for and if ya screw this up Ah'll be more crossed than a bull bein' milked!"

I moved from my chair just so Alice wouldn't harp anymore. That shrill Mississippi voice was rubbin' my Texan roots the wrong way.

I got my comfiest jeans and ignored Alice standin' in the doorway glarin' the devil at me, and a ridiculous button-up shirt that didn't come across as anything I'd wear. Cowboy boots and belt secured, we left the house with a bouncin' pixie babblin' on and on about somethin' I didn't give a damn about.

I had been remotely interested in Alice when we first started datin', but now that we bought our first house together, mixed in our CDs and silverware, I realized that I wasn't… well, never mind.

I let her drive because she had to get her kicks in with some fancy bright yellow show car that her pa got her. In three months it would start stallin' and I'd have to go under the hood and find out that some expensive German engineerin' piece got rusty or popped out of place.

She pulled up to some self-proclaimed down home Southern bar and grill place. Alice often tried to appease my deep 'down home' urges with fancy grillin' places with expensive meals that didn't have enough on the plate and too much out of my wallet.

She dragged me into the saloon-like doors with metal bars above that would come down once it was closed. Back in Texas a saloon was a saloon, no fancy prissy thing like _security_ threw it down.

A waitress in Daisy Dukes with a jean jacket that flashed too much flesh walked up to us at the front of the joint. She had bright red cowboy boots with spurs on the back and her ass was moving so much I thought she would bump into someone. Somehow, beyond my intellectual capacity, she led us to our table without tippin' a passerby over and plopped down a couple of menus.

"Drinks?" she nearly belted the word.

"I wanna pina colada," Alice replied, much too happy for eight at night.

The chick turned to me, impatience written all over her tight face and permanent unemotional brow. "Get me a bottle 'a Jack and your cheapest beer."

Alice glared at me when the waitress turned on her boot and galloped to the front of the restaurant. I did a mental sigh and tried to think of somethin' that made me happy. Playin' my guitar on the ranch back home, rockin' back and forth on the wrap around porch with a fresh glass of lemonade and my old childhood dog warmin' my bare feet. Half way through my daydream Alice started harpin'.

"I don't see why ya have to act like a fool when we're out. Ya could be a little friendlier, maybe smile or try somethin' ya don't have every night."

"Alice, I don't know what exactly prompted you to pick this of all places, but in case you haven't noticed, there ain't nothin' _down home Southern_ about this place." I slammed back the Jack that the waitress brought by and sighed as the burn slipped down my throat.

Alice thanked the waitress, ordered for herself and I spouted out the first thing I saw with single digits in the cash column.

"So, ah gotta tell ya somethin'," Alice announced. She had managed to down half her drink by the time I got to my beer. "Ma wants me to come down next weekend."

"So go," I said, waving my hand. "Mama Brandon wants the chicks back in their nest, it's not like you'd deny her."

"That's a bad thing?" she snapped. "Ma family means a lot to me, Jasper, and sometimes it's like ya don't even care."

"Hmm."

"She wants you to come."

"I don't see that happenin'."

"Why not?" I looked at her incredulously. "Would it really be that big a deal?"

I waved over the waitress and pointed to my empty glass. She refilled it and I grabbed the bottle from her hand. Liquid courage didn't exist right now, there was nothing to be courageous for because what ain't gonna happen, ain't gonna happen.

"Marriage," I drawled. "Isn't for the moment."

Her face got red as a tomato. "Well what do ya expect from me then? We already live together in sin, we've been datin' for a year and a half, and Ah don't know if Ah can wait any longer for ya bachelor ways to settle down."

"In the nearly two years that we've been datin' there ain't been nothin' 'bachelor' about me," I snapped. "I moved from Texas 'cause you didn't _like_ it. I left my family because you wanted a nice suburban home where you didn't wake up to smell cattle. If anythin', I've been the mature one here, Alice."

She huffed and puffed while I ignored her comeback and focused on the alcohol that I was pretty sure was watered down. My child size steak came and the bottle of sauce was nearly empty when I patted it down.

Alice, bein' the piglet that she is, dug into her onion and bacon burger that would'a killed me on contact. I finished my meal in a couple bites and started chompin' on bread.

I looked around the place, seein' the pictures of clichéd country stars. Pop country singer's pictures lined the wall; some signed guitars and drum sticks were by the front of the place. There were concert posters from Texas back from when I was kid and my heart zinged in remorse.

Across from me there was a sleek black acoustic guitar with the same strap as my guitar back home. By the time I was on the plane and realized that I'd left it behind, I almost felt relieved. At least some part of me wouldn't be changed when I went back for holiday visits.

My eyes darted down to a pair of eyes that were averted to the same guitar. Some girl's fingers tapped on the cloth covered table like playin' a chord on the neck. Her eyebrows pulled together to form a little worry line and I could almost transmit my thoughts into her to get that expression.

Alice moaned as she crammed more onions that fell to her plate into her mouth and ordered another drink. She was speaking to me, but I was focused on the girl across from me, wonderin' what she was doin' in a place like this.

The guy across from her snapped his fingers and she looked at him and smiled sheepishly. He tucked her hair behind her ear and continued talking and grinning like a cat.

He was a pretty boy, that much was obvious. Between Mississippi and Texas there was a whole new kind of people, I'd suppose they would be known as fancy and refined. From all the southern jokes I'd heard about Texans I could only imagine they thought we were a bunch of brutes who wanted to secede from the peace and conquer Mexico.

The red head guy was talkin', finger rubbing over his clean shaven jaw and using his hands to communicate. The girl looked bored, tired, and just not into it. Alice snapped for my attention just like the priss over yonder and I felt for the girl.

"Were ya listenin'?" Alice mumbled over her food.

I shook my head. "Nah, I was daydreamin'."

"Ma already got the tickets for the plane, so why don't ya just come down?"

"No, Alice."

"Jasper, stop bein' ridiculous! When do ya intend to make an honest woman outta me?"

I rolled my eyes and looked away. It wasn't like we'd been havin' sex every night. Since she moved in we'd christened the bedroom… and that was it. I had figured out her ploy; withhold sex until I asked her to marry me.

I didn't miss sex _that_ much.

When I looked back over at the girl, she was lookin' at me. Her big brown eyes reminded me of the fields after a good rain storm. The muddy gravity that would pull me down when I went runnin' through the stocks to find the perfect piece of corn for grandma to make, the way it caked onto my pants and hardened until the water and dirt broke them in. I sighed as I held eye contact with her, for the first time in a long while I felt like the constant void was gettin' filled a bit.

She blinked slowly, big lashes comin' down slowly only to go back up and frame a picture of home for me. Her cheeks flushed bright crimson like the feathers of a rooster. I smiled at her.

She looked down at the table and the guy across from her went on without noticing. Alice, however, didn't.

"What're ya lookin' at?" she asked and stood on her knees in the booth to get a better look.

I held my breath as her eyes scanned over the back of the room. The girl didn't look up to draw attention to herself, though. Alice stopped and then abruptly turned around.

"Oh ma God!" Alice clapped her hands. "Ya won't believe it, but a girl from ma aerobics class is here!"

"Why wouldn't I believe it?" I mumbled.

"Oh, you gotta meet her; she's the cutest little thing. She's here to visit her boyfriend but they're thinkin' of movin' in together. Oh, come on, Jasper!"

I groaned as she pulled me from the booth and gripped my forearm with eagle talons. I became more and more horrified as we grew closer to the table with the girl, and then a mixture of excitement and terror as Alice stopped, said her name, and commenced to talk.

"Bella!" she greeted. The girl's head snapped up and she smiled Alice before her eyes darted to me.

"Hey, Alice." That voice. Oh God that voice, did it—was it... "I didn't see you before."

Oh thank God! I hadn't heard a Texas accent beside my own in too long. My stiff shoulders slumped forward and a lazy grin spread across my face. The way she stretched her vowels and the throaty sound of consonants had me grounded immediately.

"Is this your boyfriend?" Alice asked excitedly.

The red head guy looked up and smiled at her before grabbin' onto the girl's hand. She smiled a little and nodded.

"Alice, this is Edward, Edward, Alice. She's in your mother's aerobics class, too."

Alice stuck her hand out to the Edward guy, shook it and asked about his mother. Oh, she didn't know his ma ran it, oh, he didn't know Bella had a good friend in there. I tuned it out and focused on the girl—Bella—as she watched the two interact.

Her eyes met mine again and I was lost in the maze of corn field and roosters, and this time when I smiled, she smiled back.

"Bella, this is ma boyfriend, Jasper. Jasper, this is Bella." Alice sat next to Bella, and I noticed how her face fell a bit after the word boyfriend. Her and me both.

I turned to Edward as he offered a chair. Great. "So, Jasper," he started. His accent irked me, it was like Alice's but more drawn out. "How long have Alice and ya been together for?"

"A year and a half," I answered.

He grinned. "Good to see another long-termer here. Bella and Ah will be two years next month."

"Alice says she might be moving here?"

"Mmhmm, just go maself a house up west."

"That's where we live!" Alice shrieked. "Ya need to come over and do neighborly things with us. Jasper's good at grillin' and we were gonna try out a new one this weekend."

Alice bragged about my cookin' skill in bulky meat while I was stuck talkin' to Edward about the doctorin' job he had. I couldn't remember if he was a pediatrician or a cardiologist because after he said he wanted Bella's children I was lost in a fire of red and thoughts that shouldn't have bothered me.

By midnight the waitress came by to announce closin' time. Alice reiterated that they come over this weekend for a barbeque. I shook Bella's hand, grabbin' on too hard and too long for her boyfriend's likin' and left with a tipsy Alice swayin' by my side.

When we were in the car Alice was kissin' my neck and her hand was trying to make its way into my pants, but I smacked her away. The shock on her face was clear as day, but I couldn't touch her when I had another girl on my mind.

--

Alice had been tryin' to get back on my good side since dinner. Denyin' her in the car must have wounded her ego because she had been throwin' herself at me like a whore at the end of the month.

Two days later when I came home, Alice was on the couch in some stringy brightly colored lingerie. It may have been boring, but I preferred neutral earthy tones. The bright red satin and rouge on her cheeks looked like I should just throw her a twenty, and I walked to my room like I didn't even see her. Just because I was a man didn't mean I couldn't withhold sex.

It didn't hurt that I hid Alice's vibrator and now she was just as stuck as I was.

Truth be told, I wasn't attracted to Alice. At one point I was, but that was a year ago when we had been datin' for awhile and sex became a ritual that I was only too happy to have every day.

Upon movin' into our own home and meshin' together for the majority of the day, I finally realize what a huge mistake I'd made. My love for Alice had slowly been diminishin' since that day.

I realized how self-absorbed she was when she hogged the bathroom for hours in the morning. How materialistic she was when her own closet wasn't enough to hold her things and she invaded mine. How possessive she was when I asked to borrow some of her collector cufflinks for a job interview. And most of all how influenced she was. Every fad and every trend she went after like a dog on a mailman, no matter how ridiculous it was.

I would go so far as to say that my feelins' toward Alice were that of an annoyed older brother being followed around by a little sister. This, in no way, should reflect upon me as incestual, though.

Currently, as I walked through the threshold of my house—not home—I stopped cold in my tracks at what was awaitin' me on the couch.

Instead of some slinky fabric around tanned skin and see through lace on an explored woman, was another woman.

Bella was sittin' on my Persian white couch with the ugly gold trim. She had a cup of coffee in her hands and was facin' Alice until I strode in. Her eyes immediately snapped to mine and I dropped my keys into the porcelain bowl by the door.

I forgot about the shit day at work as soon as those honey warm eyes caught me in their sticky wake. I sighed through my nose and my stomach dropped into a comfortable level of relaxation. That was until Alice decided to ruin everythin'.

"Jasper!" she screeched like a banshee.

I smiled at her a little tight lipped and noticed that she was wearing a red sports bra and tiny matchin' shorts. It looked like somethin' that belonged in bedroom rather than out and about. Across from her Bella had on a light blue tank top and pants. The difference between the two women hit me strong on right then and there, what I had and what I wanted.

I excused myself quickly, tryin' not to look at Bella as I left the room and ignorin' Alice's incessant whinin' at my rude departure.

I slammed my back into the door as soon as it was shut and I faced the bed while tryin' to even out my breathin'.

My escape from Alice had been slow and unmovin'; I didn't really have a reason to leave because of the easy routine of it all. I had a home in a nice community, someone to spend my time with, a partner and companion, but not the kind that I actually wanted to be around.

My ma had always told me she'd love whoever I brought home—Texan or not—and havin' to watch her bite her tongue for Alice should have been the first sign. Maybe Bella had finally changed my ridiculous pattern of monotony and boredom. Maybe if I had a _real_ down home girl I'd be happier and enthusiastic about things that anyone in a relationship should be.

It was decided for me then, with my back against door and the petite laugh of a girl who I'd set my sights on, that whether for better or for worse, things would change.

--

The day of the backyard barbeque Alice had gone out to get things to marinate the steaks in before I grilled them. The point of Southern grillin' was to let the grill bring out the taste.

My thoughts were focused on Bella. I needed to get her alone, to talk to her, to see if what I felt was just more than in my head. My time with the Mississippi Maniac had to end and it would be wonderful if I had a good reason to remember why I was doin' it when Alice tore me a new one.

I was setting up the grill with a propane tank when the doorbell chimed through the open porch door. I ran to it eagerly, awaitin' the smug faced Edward that had been a nightmare in most of my dreams. Last night's was about him attackin' me when I took his girl and then I smashed his face into the grill.

I paused at the door and shook the thought from my head. Not now, Jasper.

I held my breath as I opened the heavy metal door and was greeted with a similar motionless face. We both blew out our breaths at the same time and laughed a little awkwardly.

"You're early, Bella," I said, discreetly wiping the sweat from the back of my neck.

She wrung her hands. "I know, I just—um, Edward's runnin' late in surgery and I was already at the house so I thought 'what's the harm'?"

I smiled and ushered her inside the house. "Alice is out gettin' some things. I was setting up the grill."

"Do you need any help?" she asked eagerly. The tension seemed to snap and I faced her.

No Alice, no Edward, just the two of us alone in my house.

"I could use some help with the beans." I smiled at her and her cheeks flushed. "Do you want a beer?" I asked, enterin' the kitchen.

"Yes please." She went to the stove and began to stir the pot of beans that Alice had started and left sittin' there. She managed to pry the burnt ones from the bottom and pick out the pieces of bacon that were floatin' around it.

I did the grill quickly, tacking on the propane, gettin' the coals in and covered the meat before rushin' back inside. Bella was where I had left her, stirrin' the beans and watchin' over the large pieces of corn in a lobster pot.

She sipped her bear and looked up at me. I had forgotten how sexy a woman drinkin' beer was. No fruity drinks with ridiculous names and crystal glasses for fancy bubbly alcohol.

I hopped up on the counter beside Bella and she followed me with her eyes. I could just stare into her eyes for hours. As girly and pussy whipped as it sounded, something about the way she stared at me, and how the shade changed with her blushes.

"How long have you lived here?" Bella asked.

"Eight months or so," I answered.

"Oh," she seemed surprised. "It doesn't really have that homey feel to it."

"Yeah, well I didn't have any say in the decoration."

She smiled. "I could kind of tell."

"That obvious?" I asked a bit sheepishly.

"You don't seem like the kind of man who would go for gold lookin' ribbons on his _throw pillows_." She laughed at the end, a real belly laugh unlike the one I'd heard the other night.

"You don't seem like the kind of woman who'd be friends with Ms. Eccentric," I responded.

She shrugged a bit uncomfortably. "Alice just treated me nicely when I tripped and knocked us both down in the middle of class. Anyone else would'a screamed and shoved me off, but she just laughed and helped me up."

I nodded and was in desperate need of a conversation changer. "You're movin' here then?"

She looked guilty. "I don't know," she whispered.

"Your boyfriend's pushin' you, though?"

"Yeah," was all she answered.

"Louisiana certainly ain't for everyone," I said, lifting her chin with my finger. "The Mother Land's the only thing you can think about when you're out here."

"I miss it already," she whispered.

I nodded. "Me too, Bella, me too."

"You think he'll be mad?" Big brown eyes looked up me, scared and uncertain.

I shook my head. "If you miss it already, no. But if you're head over heels for the big city slicker doctor then that's your choice." She squirmed and played with her bottle of beer. "You've already made your decision, haven't you?

She bit her lip. "He's gonna hate me."

"I think you're incapable of being hated."

Her closed eyes cracked open slowly from her scared position and somethin' on my face must have convinced her because she smiled the widest, goofiest grin I'd ever seen. My revelation against the door came back to me and I suddenly had a map set out before me of the land that I'd covered and where I needed to go.

Bella was where I needed to go, and then back home. Preferably with her on my arm.

"When you go home," I managed to grit out; the hope in my stomach was churning heavily. "What do you plan on goin' with him?"

"That's up to him."

My voice came out as a hoarse whisper. "You're through?"

She took a step forward and lightly set her bottle on the counter. With her teeth still holdin' her lip she nodded, moved closer to me until I could feel the warmth radiatin' from her sweet smellin' skin.

I swear to God, in those two minutes where we just… stared at each other and let the moment spark to life, it was the single most incredible experience of my existence. Nothing like this had ever happened with Alice. I hadn't felt a fraction of what I felt with Bella, between my legs lookin' up at me and not even makin' physical contact, with Alice.

It was one of those moments where in the past you would have just wished it sped up, but I wanted more than anythin' to have that moment last and carry on.

I reached out and placed my hands on her hips, initiatin' contact. She put a tentative hand on my thigh and together we pulled her forward. Her breath was shaky as I moved forward and touched her lips barely with mine. It was like a thousand razors shredded my insides and the flesh morphed into something, something that was different from what I'd been sharin' with Alice. This was real intimacy between two people who were connected and didn't have to force it.

The front door slammed open and Bella jumped away from me. Her back pressed against the opposite wall of the kitchen while she tried to calm her breathin'.

I jumped off the kitchen counter and spared her one last glance before Alice came into the kitchen with a paper bag full of groceries. Behind her, Edward had plastic bags swingin' from his arms and a satisfied grin on his face.

"Bella!" Alice sang. "I didn't think ya were here."

"I came early," she answered quietly. "I was helpin' Jasper with the beans and corn."

Edward bent over the stove as if to check her work. "Isn't there s'posed to be bacon in here?"

"Bacon ruins the flavor," I replied gruffly.

He looked up but didn't say anythin'. Alice grabbed Bella's hand and went to show her around the house since she didn't do a thorough job last time and I was stuck with Edward in the hot kitchen.

He stood with his back to the counter and hands grippin' it. I could see the tendons of his knuckles stickin' up and I shoved my hands in my pockets to do the same. I think in the back of our minds we both knew what was goin' on because if it was glaringly obvious to me, it must have been somewhat obvious to an outsider that Alice and I weren't the happiest clams in the sea.

And if he knew Bella as well as I did in the short time since I'd met her, he must have known somethin' was different. I suddenly wanted him to know, why should I wait until she broke up him to get what I wanted?

I smiled at him, a loose grin to clear the tension and motioned for him to follow me to the back of the house. We walked out through the porch doors and up to the grill.

"Think you can help with the grillin'?" I played nice and offered him a look at the pounds of steak and prime rib.

"Ya know it," he responded in a cocky way. I wanted to punch his teeth in.

I saw Alice and Bella walk out onto the porch and around to the side yard where they looked at the assortments of flowers that a gardener had planted there. Bella bent over to pick up a bright purple flower and tucked it behind her ear.

I would wait for however long it took to have my Southern Bell.

--

One minute I was sleepin', and then the next I wasn't.

Alice was jumpin' up and down beside me on the bed while I smothered my head with a pillow. She was screamin' and yellin' some loud banter. I peeked out at the clock and saw glaring red numbers that formed an S like five. I didn't have to be up for another three hours and the shrew was interruptin' my sleep.

I decided to just throw the pillow at her and roll onto my back. As my eyes adjusted to the light streamin' in from the hallway I could feel Alice vibratin' at my side.

"Jasper!" She started to shake my shoulders.

I slapped her hands away. "What? What, Alice? Christ."

"Ya won't believe it," she gasped.

"Just fuckin' tell me," I hissed.

I looked over to glare at Alice, but instead I was starin' at a figure in the doorway. With her arms wrapped around her waist and her shoulders hunched, Bella stood lookin' grim and like she'd been cryin'.

I sat up pulled the covers over my lap. The fact that I had just been awoken from a particularly nice dream about the woman in question by my girlfriend was not wearin' well with my mornin' wood. Bella took in a deep shaky breath as she looked me on, and then smiled a watery smile.

I looked back at Alice as she started to go around the room and look for extra linens and pillows. When she ducked into the closet I looked back at Bella.

"Jasper, Bella's gonna stay with us for a while," she yelled from the closet. "She and Edward had a bad fight and she has two more weeks before she can go back home."

Two weeks. I looked at Bella in question at the word 'fight' and she nodded at the inclination that they had broken up. I tried to bite back the grin but settled on a wide smile. I grabbed my jeans from the floor and tugged them on.

"I'll make coffee," I said eagerly.

I tugged on Bella's arm as I passed and she followed behind me into the kitchen once inside all the euphoria I'd felt in the bedroom busted out and I grinned at her.

"He asked me to marry him," she said. My smile fell. "I said no."

Relief splintered in my chest. I started brewin' and Alice came out with blankets before diggin' in the fridge for ice cream. I listened to every word Bella said as she retold the story to Alice, startin' off at how she and Edward had had dinner where she'd intended to break it off.

Once Edward proposed and she denied they spent the rest of the night arguin'. I listened in rapt amusement as she explained how angry he was, yellin' and screamin' the devil at her and packin' her things up.

Alice pulled her to the guest room around seven and let her sleep for a while. I got ready for work with an extra skip in my step. Alice gave me a strange look as I passed her by, but I shook my head, kissed her cheek and left.

--

Alice had taken a few days off work to situate Bella into our home. She had been runnin' around meetin' every unsaid need that Bella did or did not need. I had felt a small amount of guilt over the whole thing, but when I looked at Bella and when I looked Alice, the choice was becomin' obvious.

It was a typical Thursday morning. Alice had gone back to work as a receptionist in a salon and I was takin' my first day off in over three months. Workin' had become an escape from my constant wantin' that Texas had made in my chest. But now, I had Texas down the hall, and a petite Southern Bell that I could practically feel radiatin' off my skin.

I'd been awake for three hours and revelin' in the sensation that could have only been from the fact that Bella was thinkin' about me, too. My body was strung up tight and I was pretty sure my heart was gonna push out from my chest. My abdomen was contractin' with each breath I took and the ceilin' had lost some of the interest I'd confided in it since I woke up.

And maybe for the first time in months my hand glided down my chest to my pelvis where my cock was hoverin' over my naval. Recognition led me through the steps that I'd felt no need to perform and my fingers met my shaft in greetin' again.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. I had the rough idea of it in my head, but somethin' about this bed, where Alice and I had been intimate, had our plain vanilla relationship spread out, made me a bit remorseful.

I could picture Bella there, though. I could see her hair fanned out across the pillows and the column of her neck pressing a delicate shape into the soft down with one of my grandma's quilts wrapped around her shoulders instead of the expensive itchy comforter that was now slung across my thighs. Bella, with her dark brown eyes and pink cheeks, her long hair and comfy jeans, the complete opposite of Alice.

My hand wrapped roughly around my cock and I pumped out a slow rhythm with the new sensation flushin' through me. There was a slice of electricity that swam through my blood and I arched my head at the force of it.

My thumb rubbed over the tip and I sighed out loud. Too long. It had been way too long since I'd done this.

My hand moved faster, a rhythm establishin' itself without my consent. I groaned out loud and turned my head into a pillow to clamp my teeth on it.

Thoughts drifted through my head, not the ordinary thoughts I'd used in the past. No, this time I thought about the curve of Bella's waist, the way her teeth gripped her bottom lip, her hair when she put it up and her collarbones that were beggin' to be kissed or touched. Her arms were slender, but there was a hint at muscle on her bicep like she tried to work out, and her thighs, soft, hairless, perfect for her long legs, gorgeous.

My hips started to thrust up with my hand and I imagined her on top of me, lookin' down with her eyes rollin' back into her head. She'd throw her head back in a silent scream with her hands on my hips to help her. My fingers dug into where her imaginary palm was. Brown locks would fall forward and pert nipples would be puckered and begging for me, but I was stuck watchin' her move against the back of my eyelids. A squeak left her throat as my hips picked up and took control of all movements.

"Bella," I groaned. My hand gripped tighter, and I could see her eyes scrunchin' closed, mouth hangin' open, chest heaving and flushed wet skin contorting with the movement of her body.

I came inside her, inside my hands, spurting a projectile misile of cum all over the place and mentally cussin' as I saw the mess I'd made. It was worth the orgasm of my life, though. Nothin' I could remember felt that good.

I managed to haul myself out of bed once my breathing calmed down. I ignored the dizziness and ringin' in my ears as I wiped my cum off the bed and my skin and with a pillow case. I threw it away when I was done and decided to go make some breakfast.

Bella was standin' in the kitchen when I came out. She had a long white shirt on and from what I could tell, nothin' on underneath. She was at the stove, focusin' intently on a few pieces of bacon. It seemed right, havin' her there in my kitchen, cookin' me breakfast, and with my post-coital haze I could see how her hair would be mussed up, cheeks still flushed from a night of endless play.

I moved towards her with shaky legs. Bella turned to me when she heard my feat against the linoleum. The clenchin' in my chest started again, my hand moved between my ribs and rubbed over the spot. Her jaw was shakin' a little because maybe she realized like I had that this was the first time we were alone since the barbeque.

"I made breakfast," she said quietly.

I leaned forward with a detached mind and body and my lips were touchin' her neck before I could think twice about it. She sighed and her body responded to mine by pressin' closer. The warmth was incredible.

"Smells good," I whispered.

She turned her head to kiss my neck, right below my ear, and then her little hands pushed me away so she could face the stove and pull off the pans. Her hands trembled while she separated bacon and eggs. My own hands were tremblin', but for more of her, to allow a simple touch, more than anythin', a simple touch to appease the ragin' beast clingin' to my chest and lungs.

Every breath I took of her floral scent the more my body responded. I had to take a step away before I mauled her on the counter, this time more than just a stolen kiss.

We ate in the living room, sittin' not more than a couch cushion away with the idle chatter of the television goin'. It was impossible to pay attention to the two talk show hosts babblin' about the New York Time Best Seller list when Bella's lips were wrappin' around a piece of bacon and her pink darted out to catch a drop of orange juice crawlin' down her chin.

Creepin' down her chin slowly and danglin' there, waitin' to fall or be caught and smothered by the back of her hand. I watched that little sucker float there and with the indecision that only somethin' without a mind could make, it fell, in slow motion, to her succulent collarbone and slowly slipped down to the wide collar around her shirt. It skimmed down until there was only a shimmerin' line of wetness dried out by her skin, not even makin' it to the promise land of rose buds and plump flesh.

I set my plate on the table with a clatter and she looked up alarmed.

"What's wrong? Did I make it okay?" she asked in a panicked voice.

"You're more than okay," I mumbled and looked up at her wide eyes. I set her plate down on top of mine and crawled up on my knees. "You're exceptional."

She moved back with hooded eyes until she was on her back and her head thumped against the armrest of the couch. My legs straddled her thighs where the shirt had ridden up to just let me to peek at the bottom of her panties and the slight outline of what my dick ached and pleaded for.

I leaned down over her, trappin' this little creature beneath me so that our chests touched. Her nipples pebbled on contact.

Our lips brushed and caressed and we breathed in each other's breath with pleasure and acceptance. Eyes never left contact, fingers intertwined so we were helpless to move and in a solitary movement that forced the world to stop, we kissed.

Electric sparks rocketed down my spine. The first time I'd kissed Alice I thought that was it, that was as good as it gets. Oh, how very wrong I was.

My body responded with Bella's immediately with the fevered frenzy that started the second we made full contact. Her back arched upward and she rubbed up against me unabashedly. Like magnets, we connected and didn't let go.

Bella's tongue slipped out to meet my own, touching in the softest, shyest way. My eyes opened heavily to watch her expression of bliss as I pulled away. Eyes flutterin' open, she looked up at me with dark brown lust soaked eyes. If I could dive right in and never come up I would have.

"I think," she said breathlessly. "You need to tell Alice."

I pressed my face to her throat and let my body come down on top of hers. She gasped when my full weight was on her chest and pelvis. Bella's hips rocked into mine a little.

"I will tell her," I murmured. "I'm goin' back to Texas and you're comin' with me."

"But Alice—"

"The Mississippi Maniac's got nothin' to do with this. We've been done for a while now."

She hesitated. "Are you sure?"

I looked up from my spot on her neck and moved the hair away from her forehead. "Bella, I've never been more sure of anythin' in my life."

"Say it again," she whispered.

"Bella, my Southern Bell, I ain't never been more sure of anythin' in my entire Godforsaken life. Will you come to Texas with me and be my Ranch Maiden?"

She threw her head back and laughed loudly. "I've been waitin' to hear that my whole life."

I leaned back up on my elbows and kissed her again, this time more aggressively. Her arms wrapped around my neck and she arched into me. I groaned against her tongue and slipped my hands up under her shirt. The soft skin of her thighs felt like a cloud against my fingers.

I wrenched up her shirt and broke contact with our lips to suck on her collarbones. She squirmed against me and made little high pitched noises in the back of her throat. I grinned and moved to her nipples that were standing up for my attention. As soon as my tongue began to lave it she gasped and forcefully moved her body against mine. She was a creature unfulfilled, but I had the cure for that.

I kissed my way down her body and picked her left leg up. There was a wet spot on her white cotton panties, no fancy red or pink, no scratchy texture or smooth slippery fabrics that made me fumble to get them off, just cotton, beautiful and simple.

I kissed the inside of her thigh, lickin' my way closer to where she was tryin' to press my nose into, but narrowly missin' it. She gasped and bucked her hips up. Chucklin', I grabbed her other thigh and pulled her legs fully apart. Her knees were by her shoulders and I marveled for a moment at the sight.

I yanked down her panties, tryin' not to look like a fumblin' teenager as I did so. Bella looked up, breathy and pantin' as she was stripped bare and lyin' on my couch. This Goddamn couch that I only let Alice buy because the cushions were wide and I had hopes of fuckin' her on it. We would be christenin' it right now and right here.

I leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her clit. She cried out softly and bit her lip. I got down on my stomach with my legs over the arm of the couch and plunged my tongue into her. Bella immediately screamed at the penetration and her hands dove into my hair. The tuggin' stung but the harder she pulled the more direction I was given.

She tasted like bitter strawberries, like a girl. No perfumes from Paris or baby powder, just the taste that belonged to a woman who was comfortable in her own skin. I worshipped her with my mouth and tried to speak through my tongue and teeth that she meant more to me than I could possibly explain at the moment.

Her hands locked onto my hair and she clamped down around my fingers as I moved my tongue faster around her clit. I sucked and pulled it in over and over until her screamin' started to echo around the room.

She was gaspin' as I crawled up her body and pulled my head roughly to hers. Moanin' and groanin' danced around us and the sun peeked out from behind a cloud to light up the room and her hair that framed around her head glowed like an angel.

"Jasper," she gasped. Her hips arched up to rub against my cock.

I pushed down my flannel pants, rejoicin' at the feeling of warm air around me. Bella looked back and wrapped her hand around my cock, strokin' and touchin' as she made little whines.

I kissed her again, situatin' my hips above hers and leanin' on my elbows on either side of her head. Wrappin' her arms around my neck, she put her thighs against mine and we were set in motion, starin' into each other's eyes and livin' in the moment.

"Bella," I whispered.

She kissed me gently. "Jasper."

"You're sure about this?"

She put her arms above her head and rubbed her clit against me. Her body shuddered and she nodded. "Mmm, yes please."

I slipped into her quick and easy, sighin' aloud at the incredible feelin'. It was a good thing I rubbed one out earlier or I would'a cum like a fifteen-year-old watchin' a Jenna Jameson movie.

Bella wrapped her arms around my neck again and pulled me down on top of her so every part of us was touchin'. I groaned into her mouth and she moaned my name as I picked up a good pace and pressed slowly into her, enjoyin' the feelin' of just bein' with her.

Her hands framed my face as she kissed me senseless; sounds in her throat vibrated through me and urged to move faster. Her mouth broke away as she arched her neck and slammed her eyes closed. The leg around my hip shook and pulled me closer. I grabbed her other leg and pulled it up while I picked up a faster pace.

Her breath fanned out hot and loud against my skin with every stroke. My muscles were tightening and coilin' up. I wouldn't last long, but I never wanted this to end, I wanted to see Bella lookin' up at me like that forever.

"Jasper… Jasper," she breathed. "It's—I'm gonna…"

"Yes, c'mon, Bella," I hissed against her neck.

She clenched and shook around me, high pitched breaths leavin' her throat as she smothered her sounds against my throat. She bit down lightly and I came instantly.

I roared with my release into the room. My breathin' was loud and choppy, embarrassin'ly so. But Bella's was just as loud, she pulled me to her, still connected, and we made out on the couch.

"If this is what you're like when you're home sick," Bella teased. "I wonder what you'll be like when we go back."

"Mmm," I chuckled against her skin. "You'll be the first to know."

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**A/N: Thank you to LadyInBlue6 for your insightfulness and Beta magic.**

**Hope you enjoyed this, I had so much writing this I still have the grin. I'll post the details of voting when it begins.**

**Don't forget to the review!**


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